Asia's Telecom Market Ventures
Into Deregulation, Consolidation

The news that Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. and Cable & Wireless HKT are in talks to merge is another indicator that Asia's telecommunications status quo is crumbling.

For years, Asian-Pacific nations clung to the notion that phone companies are strategic assets that need to be coddled with protectionist regulations. Above all, they needed to be shielded from any taint of foreign ownership.